Automatic dropper for harvesters and binders



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

'0. F. W-ILLE. AUTOMATIC DROPPBR FOR HARVBSTERS AND BINDE RS.

No. 505,739 Patented Sept. 26, 71893.

.. why

I i m i n (No Model.) a SheetQ-Sheet 2. O. F. WILLE. AUTOMATIG DROPPER FOR HARVESTERS AND BINDERS. N0. 505

III u Patented Sept. 26,

ll lllllhvr lu u-I l l I g UNITED STATES PATENT Erica.

CHRISTIAN F. WILLE, OF EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC DROPPER FOR HARVES TERS AND BINDERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 505,739, dated September 26, 1893.

Application filed May 15, 1893- Serial No. 174,316. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN F. WILLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Edwardsville, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Automatic Dropper for Harvesters and Binders, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a self-acting dropper for use in connection with a harvester and binder, whereby the bundle or sheaf carrier is operated to discharge or drop the bundles or sheaves at intervals without the particular manipulation of the driver; and to provide means whereby the number of bundles or sheaves which are dropped at each movement of the carrier may be regulated by the operator.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a harvester and binder with a dropping attachment embodying my invention applied thereto in the operative position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the attachment removed from the machine. Fig. 3 is a front view partly insection on line 3-3 of Fig.2, showing the foot lever, mutilated pinion, and connections. Fig i is a detail section on line 1& of Fig. 2, showing the segment gear, mutilated pinion, and connections. Fig. 5 is a front view ofthe controlling gear, segment gear, operating lever, and connections. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 2, showing thecontrolling gear, and connections.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawin s.

lhe harvester and binder in connection with which I have shown my attachment is of the ordinary and well known construction in which, l-represents the traction-Wheel, 2 the grain-wheel, Sthe cutting-mechanism, L the apron,5 the gathering arms, and 6 the binder deck. In the perspective view, Fig. 1, the sheaf carrier is not visible owing to the position of the machine; but the location of such carrier with relation to the parts of the dropper mechanism is illustrated in diagram in connection with Fig. 2.

7 represents a shaft which is disposed hori zontally in bearings 8 which are carried by the seat platform 9 of the machine, said shaft being continuously rotated by suitable gearing and connections hereinafter described.

Loosely mounted upon the shaft at an intermediate point is a segment gear 10 of poculiar construction being provided with a peripheral, lateral rim 11, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, and teeth or spurs 12 which extend around one-fourth of the periphery. The rim 11 is cut away at the part adjacent to the said teeth or spurs. Rotatably mounted at right angles to the shaft 7 is a stub-shaft 13, bearing at one end a mutilated pinion 14, which I have for convenience termed an intermittently moving pinion because of its intermittent movement when the machine is in operation, and at the other end a crank arm 15. The pinion 14 is beveled to agree with the teeth of the segment gear 10 and at one side is flattened for the distance of two teeth, whereby, as the segment gear rotates, its teeth 12 will mesh with the teeth of the pinion'14; and turn the latter through a complete revolution until the flat side of the pinion is arranged opposite the surface of the segment gear, when the latter will rotate independently of the pinion until the teeth 12 return to engaging position with the teeth of the pinion. The shaft 13 is suitably mounted in bearing-boxes 16 upon the seat platform.

As above described, the segment gear is loosely mounted upon the shaft 7, being held in place by means of a collar 17, and in order to enable said gear to be locked to the shaft to rotate therewith, I provide a clutch 18, which may be of any approved construction, but is. preferably of simple form, as shown in the drawings, in which the sleeve 19 is feathered upon the shaft 7 and is provided with a ratchet terminal to engage a ratchet hub 20 upon the segment goat-,a spring 21 to hold said slidable sleeve normally in its operative position in engagement with the hub of the segment gear, and a bifurcated or forked lever 22 which engages a shoulder 23 upon the sleeve 19 to enable the clutch :members to be disengaged to release the segment gear. Any suitable means may be provided for operating this clutch,suchas a foot-lever 24 which is operatively connected by means of a rod to the rear or free end of the bifurcated lever, and a spring 26 to normally hold said foot-lever in its elevated or operative position.

27 represents a controlling-gear which is beveled to mesh with a bevel pinion 28 carried by the segment gear upon the opposite side from the clutch mechanism, above described; said controlling-gear being mounted upon a spindle 29, one end of which is fixed in an X-shaped standard 30 which is secured to the said platform 9, and the other end of which is provided with a yoke 31 which fits upon the shaft 7without interfering with the free rotation of the latter. The gear 27 is provided with a peripheral rack 32, and fulcrumed upon the hub of the gear is an operating lever 33 hearing a slidable tongue 34 which is connected by a suitable rod 35 to a bell-crank lever 36. A retraction spring 37 is arranged in connection with the tongue 34 to normally hold the latter out of engagement with the rack teeth of the controllinggear, and by pressing the bell-crank lever toward the upper end of the operating lever said tongue may be engaged with the rack teeth, thus enabling the operator to turn the said gear as desired to adjust the position of the segment-gear with which, as above described, it is operatively connected. The up per divergent arms 38 of the standard 30 are provided with terminal stops 39 to limit the movement of the operatinglever 33. Motion may be communicated to the shaft 7 from'the traction-wheel or from any other continuously operating part of the machine by any well known'or approved construction of gearing, the particular form of such connections being non-essential to my invention. In the construction illustrated I have shown a longitudinally-disposed shaft 40, which is connected by suitable gearing with the tractionwheel and provided at its front end with a worm 41 which meshes with a worm-gear 42 carried by a shaft 43 which is arranged near the front end of the machine and is connected by suitable bevel gears 44 and 45 with the shaft 7.

Obviously, the gearing by which the dropper receives its motion must be proportioned to agree with the operation of the harvesting and binding mechanism to cause four sheaves or bundles to be prepared and deposited upon the sheaf carrier, which is shown in diagram at 46 in Fig. 2, during one complete revolution of the segment gear 10, or one complete revolution of the shaft 7, this being accomplished by intermeshing gears of different sizes, and being a common expedient with this class of machinery a detail description thereof is'deemed unnecessary.

This being the construction of my attachment the operation thereof, briefly stated, is as follows: The shaft -7 rotates continuously, as above described, and when the parts are in their operative position, as shown in Fig. 2 in which the clutch is in position to lock the segment gear firmly to the shaft, the mutilated pinion or gear 14 will move through one complete revolution at each complete revolution of the segment gear, said gear revolving during one-fourth of the revolution of the segment-gear and being at rest during the remaining three-fourths of the revolution of the segment-gear. At each revolution of the gear-14 the crank arm 15 is similarly operated, and by means of the connections 47 (which may be of any approved construction and which need no specific descriptionherein) motion is communicated to the sheaf carrier 48, whereby the latter is dropped or withdrawn todeposit the sheaves and is immediately elevated to its operative position. With the parts arranged as described four sheaves will be deposited upon the sheaf carrier before the latter will be operated to discharge the same, but if it is desired to deposit one, two or three sheaves it can be accomplished by the proper manipulation of the controlling gear through the agency of the operating lever 33. If it is desired to deposit a less number of bundles than four the said operating lever is grasped and-its tongue engaged with the teeth of the peripheral rack of the controlling-gear, and the latter turned, thereby causing a corresponding rotation of the segment-gear and bringing the teeth 12 of the latter into operative relation with the teeth of the mutilated gear sooner than would occur if the machine were allowed to operate without interference. In this Way any desired number of sheaves may be deposited at one time. To disconnect the drop mechanism, temporarily, the foot-lever is depressed to disengage the members of the clutch.

It will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a shaft, and means for operating the same, of a segment-gear carried by said shaft, clutch devices connecting said segment gear and the shaft, an intermittently moving gear meshing with the segment gear and flattened to remain at rest during a portion of a revolution of the segment gear, and connections between the intermittently moving gear and a sheaf carrier, substantially as specified.

2. The combination witha shaft, and means for operating the same, of a segment gear loosely mounted upon the shaft, a clutch for lockingthe segment gear to the shaft, an intermittently moving gear meshing with the segment gear, connections between said intermittently moving gear and 'a sheaf carrier, a controlling-gear meshing with a pinion carried by the segment gear, and means for opcrating the controlling-gear to adjust the same with relation to the intermittently moving gear, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with ashaft,and means for operating the same, of a segment gear, a clutch mechanism for connecting said gear to the shaft, an intermittently moving gear meshing with the segment gear, connections between the intermittently moving gear and a sheaf carrier, a controlling-gear provided with peripheral rack teeth, connections between said controlling gear and the segment gear, and an operating lever arranged in operative relation to the controlling gear, whereby the latter may be rotated to adjust the segment gear with relation to the intermittently moving gear, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with a shaft, and means for operating the same, of a segment gear, a clutch mechanism for connecting the segment gear to the shaft, an intermittently moving gear meshing with the segment gear, connections between the intermittently moving gear and a sheaf carrier, a controlling gear, and connections between the same and the segment gear, an operating lever carrying a normally retracted tongue to engage peripheral rack teeth upon the controlling gear, andstops for limiting the movement of the operating 1ever, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with a shaft, and means for operating the same, of a segment gear loosely mounted upon said shaft, a clutch to lock said segment gear to the shaft, means for operating said clutch, an intermittently moving gear meshing with the segment gear and operatively connected to a sheaf carrier, a standard 30, a spindle secured at one end in said standard and provided at the other end with a yoke to engage said shaft, a controlling gear rotatably mounted upon said spindle and connected to the segment gear, stops 39 carried by said standard, and an operating lever fulcrumed upon the hub of the controlling gear and provided with a normally retracted tongue to engage peripheral rack teeth upon the controlling gear, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN F. WILLE.

Witnesses:

W. F. L. HADLEY, CHARLES H. BURTON. 

